Fantasy Football Week 6 Dark Horse Sleeper: Garrett Graham

By Dan Freeman

Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

It’s never enjoyable watching a player go down with an injury (unless of course you’re a sick idiot named Gregg Williams, disgraced former defensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints and main culprit in Bounty-gate). Unfortunately, injuries are inevitable in football and fans have to deal with them.

The honest truth, though, is that injuries often open a window of opportunity for other players. One guy goes down and another has to step in and fill his shoes. Such is the case with Houston Texans tight end Garrett Graham, who will now be asked to step up in the wake of teammate Owen Daniels‘ injury.

The Texans recently placed Daniels on short-term IR after he sustained a non-displaced fibula fracture last week against the San Francisco 49ers. He won’t be eligible to return until Week 14 at the earliest and depending on whether or not the Texans are in the playoff picture at that point, he may not return at all.

It’s a tough loss for a team that was relying on him to be a big part of their offense. They’re now going to need someone to fill that role and perform well in his absence.

Enter Graham. Despite only playing in two-tight end sets this season, Graham has 15 receptions for 141 yards and three touchdowns. The yardage might be mediocre but again, he hasn’t been an every-snap player so far. That fact also makes the TD count more impressive.

With Daniels now out of the picture, he’ll have to shoulder the load at tight end, which should create lots of opportunities for him to greatly increase his fantasy production. The promotion couldn’t come at a better time as the Texans take on the St. Louis Rams and their incredibly weak pass-defense this week. Wide receiver Andre Johnson is nursing a shin injury and if he can’t go on Sunday, Graham will be leaned on even more heavily by the struggling Matt Schaub.

Johnson or no Johnson, Graham is going to be a big factor in the Texans’ offense this Sunday and for the foreseeable future. If he’s not yet owned in your league, swoop in and grab him and make sure he’s in your lineup this week. If he is owned but you can somehow get him cheap, I highly recommend dealing for him. He’s officially on the TE1 radar.